The Chronicles of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children written by C.S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is perhaps the author's best known work. More than 95 million copies of the books have been sold in 41 languages. Written by Lewis between 1950 and 1956, The Chronicles of Narnia contains Christian themes and borrows from Greek and Roman mythology as well as traditional English and Irish fairy tales. The books have been adapted for radio, television, stage and cinema. Pauline Baynes illustrated the original books in the series.

The Chronicles present the adventures of children who play central roles in the unfolding history of the realm of Narnia, a place where animals talk, magic is common, and good is fighting evil.

The books

The books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia are presented below in the order in which they were originally published (see reading order below). They are by far the most popular of C.S. Lewis' works having sold more than 95 million copies in 41 languages. (Guthmann 2005)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, published in 1950 by C.S. Lewis, tells the story of four ordinary children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie. They discover that a professor's wardrobe leads to the magical land of Narnia, and help to save it from the evil White Witch. They are helped in their quest by several creatures, including Aslan the Lion, the guardian of Narnia. The tale culminates in an epic battle against the forces of the witch.

Prince Caspian

Published in 1951, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia tells the story of the Pevensie children's second trip to Narnia where they discover that an evil king from Telmar has taken control of Narnia. This foreign ruler has tried to kill off the magical creatures of Narnia, but there are still many hiding in the remote corners of the land. The four children help the young Prince Caspian organize his army of Talking Beasts, and, with the help of the great lion Aslan, Narnia is once more freed of evil.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Published in 1952, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader returns Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their priggish cousin, Eustace Scrubb, to Narnia. Once there they accompany King Caspian on a voyage to find the seven lords who were banished when Caspian's evil uncle Miraz stole the throne. This perilous journey brings them face to face with many wonders and dangers as they sail toward Aslan's country at the end of the world.

The Silver Chair

Published in 1953, The Silver Chair is the first book without the Pevensie children. Instead, Aslan calls Eustace back to Narnia together with his fellow student Jill Pole. There they are given four clues to find Prince Rilian who is missing. Eustace and Jill face danger before finding Rilian and breaking him free from the spell of the Emerald Witch.

The Horse and His Boy

Published in 1954, The Horse and His Boy tells the story of Bree, a talking horse, and Shasta, a young boy, who have been held in bondage in a country to the South of Narnia. By chance, one day they meet and plan their return to Narnia and freedom. On their journey they discover that the Calormenes are about to invade Narnia and sound the alarm. This chronicle is set during the reign of the Pevensie Children as Kings and Queens of Narnia.

The Magician's Nephew

Published in 1955, the prequel The Magician's Nephew brings us back to the very beginning of Narnia where we learn how Aslan created the world and how evil first entered it. Many mysteries of Narnia are revealed as another group of children stumble into Narnia via an entirely different route.

The Last Battle

Published in 1956 and awarded the Carnegie Medal, The Last Battle chronicles the end of the world of Narnia. Jill and Eustace are returned to Narnia to help save it from treacherous invaders and a false Aslan.

Reading order

Fans of the series often have strong opinions over the correct ordering of the books. When the books were originally published, they were not numbered. The first American publisher, Macmillan, put numbers on the books in the order in which they were published. When HarperCollins took over the series, the books were renumbered using the internal chronological order, as suggested by Lewis's stepson, Douglas Gresham.

Gresham quoted Lewis's reply to a letter from an American fan in 1957 who was having an argument with his mother about the order:

Fans of the series who appreciate the original order believe that Lewis was only being polite to a child and that he could have changed the order in his lifetime had he so desired. (Brady 2005) It's clear from the texts that The Lion was the first book—and that The Magician's Nephew was not. For instance, in The Lion, when Aslan is first mentioned, Lewis says,

and the story ends,

Prince Caspian, which is subtitled "The Return to Narnia", refers to "the other story".

By contrast, in The Magician's Nephew, Lewis is filling in some of the back-story of the series. It begins,

and ends,

Another argument put forth by fans of the original order is that an early reading of The Magician's Nephew spoils much of the wonder felt upon discovering Narnia through the wardrobe in LWW. Story events such as the creation story, the origin of the White Witch, the active wood of which the wardrobe is made, and the identity of the professor are all described before the reader knows much about Narnia or the story of the White Witch. For this reason, many think that children are deprived of the mystery that could have existed for them had the original order been used. This argument hinges partly on the claim that Chronology is not equivalent to Narrative.

It is important to keep in mind that this dispute only applies to the first reading of the books. For re-reading, as Lewis said, "perhaps it does not matter very much". Ironically, Douglas Gresham, who pushed the publishers to reorder the books, is now the co-producer of the Narnia film series—which is being made in the original order.

Christian parallels

The Chronicles of Narnia contain many allusions to Christian ideas which are easily accessible to younger readers; however, the books are not weighty, and can be read for their adventure, colour, and mythological ideas alone. Because of this, The Chronicles of Narnia have become favourites with both children and adults, Christians and non-Christians.

Although he did not set out to do so, in the process of writing his fantasy works, Lewis (an adult convert to Christianity) found himself incorporating Christian theological concepts into his stories. As he wrote in Of Other Worlds:

Lewis, an expert on the subject of allegory, himself maintained that the books were not allegory, and preferred to call the Christian aspects of them "suppositional". This is similar to what we would now call alternative history. As he wrote in a letter to a Mrs. Hook in December of 1958:

With the release of 2005 Disney movie there has been renewed interest in the Christian parallels found in the books. Some find them distasteful, while noting that they are easy to miss if you are not familiar with Christianity. (Toynbee 2005) Alan Jacobs, author of The Narnian: The Life and Imaginaton of C.S. Lewis, says flatly that Lewis has become "a pawn in America's culture wars" (Jacobs 2005). Some Christians see the chronicles as excellent tools for Christian evangelism. (Kent 2005)

Many parts of the books may seem rather out-of-place, but make sense in light of the symbolism they carry. In the 5th book in the series, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan turns from a lamb into a lion and tells the children that he brought them to Narnia to learn his other name on Earth. Christ was called the Lamb of God in Bible, and it is almost certain that he meant the name Jesus. Also, in The Silver Chair, the dead King Caspian is brought to Aslan's terriritory, where Caspian lay in a river. Aslan commands Eustace to prick his paw with a thorn, and Aslan lets the blood drop on Caspian, who in turn comes alive. This is symbolic of how only Jesus's blood when he died on the cross could bring man to heaven (and give them life), and the water that purifies. The thorn is symbolic of the crown of thorns, and that Eustace pricked his paw is symbolic of how man put Christ on the cross. In the Bible, Jesus is also referred to as the Lion of the Tribe of Judea.

Pagan influences

There are many Christians who feel that The Chronicles of Narnia promotes soft sell paganism and occultism, because of the recurring pagan themes and the heretical depictions of Christ as an anthropomorphic lion. Satyrs, fauns, centaurs, dwarves, werewolves, giants, and even the pagan god Bacchus and the Maenads are depicted in a positive light, when they are distinctly pagan motifs. Even an animistic "River god" is portrayed in a positive light. (Chattaway 2005), (Berit 2005) According to Josh Hurst from Christianity Today, "not only was Lewis hesitant to call his books Christian allegory, but the stories borrow just as much from pagan mythology as they do the Bible."(Hurst 2005) However, the mythological creatures in the stories are portrayed just as normal an animal as all the other, real species talking animals, and not in a pagan-religious light.^{[citation needed]} The Pagan Gods seem to be under the rule of Aslan (and not as great) and perhaps were supposed to be seen as mortal. Therefore the Lion was was King over all in Narnia, including the pagan Gods, which is why many christians don't find the mythology offensive.^{[citation needed]} In any case, most childrens fantasy contain mythological creatures.^{[citation needed]}

Drew Trotter, PhD, president of the Center for Christian Study, noted that the producers of the film version of The Chronicles of Narnia felt that The Chronicles of Narnia closely follows the archetypal pattern of the monomyth as detailed in Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces. [1] Joseph Campbell himself felt that the New Testament adhered to the archetypal monomyth and was but "one version of mythic stories that can be found in many cultures."[2] Both The Chronicles of Narnia and the New Testament are rife with Jungian archetypal imagery.

A religious studies professor, Dennis R. MacDonald, PhD, who teaches at the Claremont School of Theology, has written numerous books stating that portions of the New Testament are actually derived from Classical pagan Greek literature like the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer(MacDonald 2000), (MacDonald 2003) though the actual resemblance between the two are very mild, and in the stories are woven deep and unique biblical elements. Assuming that Lewis did indeed base aspects of The Chronicles of Narnia on the New Testament, Lewis might have, in fact, been infusing pagan symbolism, allegory, and supposition into The Chronicles of Narnia.

CS Lewis himself stated in an essay called Is Theism Important?:

Influences on Narnia

Writing

Lewis' early life has echoes within the Chronicles. Born in Belfast, Ireland in 1898, Lewis' family moved to a large house in the country when he was seven. The house contained long hallways and empty rooms, and Lewis and his brother invented make-believe worlds while exploring their home. Like Caspian and Tirian, Lewis lost his mother at an early age, and like Edmund, Jill and Eustace, he spent a long, miserable time in English boarding schools. During World War II, many children were evacuated from London because of air raids. Some of these children stayed with Lewis at his home in Oxford. (Wilson 2005)

Lewis was part of the Inklings, a literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England. Its members included such notables as J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Hugo Dyson. Readings and discussions of the members' unfinished works were the principal purposes of meetings. These readings and discussions were usually held on Thursday evenings in C. S. Lewis's college rooms at Magdalen College. The Inklings were also known to gather at a local pub, The Eagle and Child.

Name

According to Paul Ford's Companion to Narnia: There is no indication that Lewis was alluding to the ancient Umbrian city Nequinium, renamed Narnia (after the river Nar, a tributary of the Tiber) by the conquering Romans in 299 BC. However, since Lewis's first successes at Oxford were in the classics and ancient history, it is quite possible that he came across at least seven references to Narnia in Latin literature. (Ford 2005)

Narnia's influence on others

Influence on authors

A more recent British series of novels, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, has been seen as an "answer" to the Narnia books. Pullman's series favours science and reason over religion, wholly rejecting the themes of Christian theology which permeate the Narnia series, but has many of the same issues, subject matter, and types of characters (including talking animals) as the Chronicles of Narnia.

The short story The Problem of Susan[3] written by Neil Gaiman tells the story of Susan Pevensie long after the conclusion of Lewis' series (available in Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy edited by Al Sarrantonio). Additionally, Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel series, in its story arc entitled "A Game of You", features a Narnia-like "dream island".

Science fiction author Greg Egan's short story 'Oracle' depicts a parallel universe with an author nicknamed "Jack" who has written novels about the fictional Kingdom of Nesica, and whose wife is dying of cancer. The story uses several Narnian allegories to explore issues of religion and faith versus science and knowledge.

Influence on popular culture

As one would expect with any popular, long lived work, references to The Chronicles of Narnia are relatively common in pop-culture. References to the lion Aslan, travelling via wardrobe, and direct references to The Chronicles of Narnia occur in books, television, songs, games and graphic novels. Recently, Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg from Saturday Night Live did a skit where they rapped about a trip to see The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at a movie theater. In addition to appearances in mainstream pop-culture, references to Narnia are even more prevalent among Christian recording artists — for example, the Christian melodic metal band Narnia.

Criticism

C.S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia series have received various criticisms over the years, much of it by fellow authors. Allegations of sexism centre around the description of Susan Pevensie in The Last Battle. Lewis characterizes Susan as being "no longer a friend of Narnia" and interested "in nothing nowadays except lipstick, nylons and invitations".

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, has said:

Philip Pullman author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, interprets it this way:

But others oppose this view, arguing that the "lipsticks, nylons and invitations" quote is taken out of context and that Susan is excluded from Narnia in The Last Battle specifically because she no longer believes in it. Moreover, in The Horse and his Boy, Susan's adulthood and sexual maturity is portrayed in a positive light. They also cite the positive roles of women in the series, like Lucy Pevensie and Aravis Tarkheena, who are main characters in the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Horse and His Boy, respectively. It is asserted that Lucy is the most admirable of the human characters, and that in general the girls come off better than the boys through the stories. (Anderson 2005), (Rilstone 2005), (Jacobs 2005)

In addition to the sexism accusation, Pullman has also implicated The Chronicles of Narnia series in fostering racism. He writes:

The racism critique is based on a perceived negative representation of other races and religions, particularly the Calormenes, as enemies of Aslan and Narnia (Hensher 1998). The Calormenes are described as dark-skinned people who wear turbans and pointy slippers and are armed with scimitars. This depiction has been cited as a blatant comparison to the traditional attire of Islam and Sikhism, although critics ignore the fact that the polytheistic Calormene religion bears no resemblance to Islam. The Calormenes worship a main "false god" Tash, who is portrayed as a stereotypical Satanic being requiring evil deeds and sacrifices from his followers.

There are Calormene characters portrayed in a positive light throughout the series. In The Horse and His Boy, one of the main characters, Aravis, is a female Calormene princess that ends up marrying an Archenlander prince of white ethnicity. In The Last Battle, the Calormene Emeth is accepted by Aslan although he is a worshiper of Tash. (Nelson 2005, pp. B14)

Lewis supporters point to the fact that Lewis writings have a particularly British Victorian era flavour that was much in fashion during his lifetime, but that may be seen as politically incorrect nowadays. The fact that Lewis and other similar-minded contemporaries such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Charles Williams remained popular over such a long period of time suggests to some that many of the criticisms which have been voiced are minority views, not thought to be significant by the reading public. O'Connor writes, "In his time, people thought it was amusing to make fun of other cultures. We don't. Read the stories, ask questions, and remember that the person who wrote this story was altogether too human."

Some of the criticism may be related to Narnia's Christian content. According to Jacobs, "Those who dislike Christianity itself can be far more harsh: Thus the English novelist Philip Hensher chastised Lewis a few years ago because his books 'corrupt the minds of the young with allegory,' and suggested (only half-jokingly, I think) that parents should give their children 'Last Exit to Brooklyn' to read rather than a Narnia tale."

The Narnia universe

Most of The Chronicles of Narnia take place in the world of Narnia. The Narnian world itself is one world in a multiverse of countless worlds including our own. Passage between these worlds is possible though rare and may be accomplished in various fashions. Visitors to Narnia observe that the passage of time while they are away is unpredictable. Narnia itself is populated by a wide variety of creatures most of whom would be recognizable to those familiar with Roman/Norse mythology and Irish/English fairy tales.

Narnia in other media

Television

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was first turned into a television series in 1967. The ten episodes, each thirty minutes long, were directed by Helen Standage. The screenplay was written by Trevor Preston. Unlike subsequent adaptations, it is currently unavailable to purchase for home viewing.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was turned into an animated television special in 1979. It was a co-production of Bill Melendez (Charlie Brown) and the Children's Television Workshop (Sesame Street and The Electric Company). The screenplay was by David D. Connell. It won the Emmy award for Outstanding Animated Program that year.

The Chronicles of Narnia were turned into a series of successful BBC television miniseries in 1988–1990 (see The Chronicles of Narnia (TV miniseries)). They were nominated for a total of 14 awards, including an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Children's Program. Only The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair were filmed. The four miniseries were later edited into three feature-length films (combining Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and released on DVD.

Radio

The critically acclaimed BBC Radio 4 dramatization was produced in the 1980s. Collectively titled Tales of Narnia it covers the entire series and is approximately 15 hours long.

Between 1999 and 2002 Focus on the Family produced radio dramatizations of all 7 books[4]. Production included a cast of over 100 actors, an original orchestral score and cinema-quality digital sound design. Total running time is slightly over 22 hours. Douglas Gresham, the stepson of C.S. Lewis, hosts the series. From the Focus on the Family website:

Stage

In 1998 the Royal Shakespeare Theatre premiered The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Dramatized by Adrian Mitchell and originally directed by Adrian Noble with revival directed by Lucy Pitman-Wallace, the production was well received and ran during the holiday season from 1998 to 2002.[5] The London Evening Standard wrote:

There are also other dramatisations including musicals of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew that have been performed in various community playhouses in recent years. Adaptations were created by Irita Kutchmy [6]; Jules Tasca, Thomas Tierney & Ted Drachman[7]; Adrian Mitchell[8]; Joseph Robinette[9]; and Aurand Harris[10].

Cinema

A film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, titled The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, produced by both Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, was released in December 2005. It was directed by Andrew Adamson. The screenplay was written by Ann Peacock. Principal photography for the film took place in Poland, Czech Republic and New Zealand. The movie achieved critical and box office success, and it seems likely that Disney will produce a sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian with an expected release date of December 2007.

Music

A musical retelling of the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released in 1980 by Contemporary Christian group 2nd Chapter of Acts. It was titled The Roar of Love.

Further reading

• Duriez, Colin. A Field Guide to Narnia. InterVarsity Press, 2004.
• Ford, Paul. Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition. HarperSanFrancisco, revised edition 2005.
• Ditchfield, Christin. A Family Guide to Narnia: Biblical Truths in C.S. Lewis's the Chronicles of Narnia. Crossway Books, 2003.
• Bruner, Kurt & Ware, Jim. Finding God in the Land of Narnia. Tyndale House Publishers, 2005.
• Williams, Thomas. The Heart of the Chronicles of Narnia: Knowing God Here by Finding Him There. W Publishing Group, 2005.
• Wagner, Richard. C.S. Lewis & Narnia For Dummies. For Dummies, 2005.
• A Guide for Using The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in the Classroom. Teacher Created Resources, 2000.
• The Lion, Witch & Wardrobe Study Guide. Progeny Press, 1993.
• The Magician's Nephew Study Guide. Progeny Press, 1997.
• Prince Caspian Study Guide. Progeny Press, 2003.
• Jacobs, Alan. The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005.

References

• Martindale, Wayne & Root, Jerry (1990), The Quotable Lewis, Tyndale House, ISBN 0-8423-5115-9
• Dorsett, Lyle & Mead, Marjorie (1996), C. S. Lewis' Letters to Children, Scribner, ISBN 0-6848-2372-1
• Smith, Neil (2005), "Narnia Christian link played down", BBC News
• Pullman, Philip (1998), "The Darkside of Narnia", The Guardian [11]
• Hensher, Philip (1998), "Don't let your children go to Narnia: C.S. Lewis's books are racist and misogynist", The Independent(London)
• Nelson, Michael (2005), "For the Love of Narnia", The Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. 52, no. 15, pp. B14
• Grossman, Lev (2005), "J.K. Rowling Hogwarts And All", Time, vol. 166, no. 4
• Swinton, Tilda (2005), "Narnia Christian link played down", BBC News
• Anderson, R.J. (2005), "The Problem with Susan", Parabolic Extensions
• Rilstone, Andrew (2005), "Lipstick on My Scholar", The Life and Opinions of Andrew Rilstone
• OConnor, Kyrie (2005), "5th Narnia book may not see big screen", The Indianapolis Star
• Toynbee, Polly (2005), "Narnia represents everything that is most hateful about religion", The Guardian
• Kent, Keri Wyatt (2005), "Talking Narnia to Your Neighbors", Christianity Today, no. November/December
• Gopnik, Adam (2005), "Prisoner of Narnia", The New Yorker
• Brady, Erik (2005), "A Closer Look at the World of 'Narnia'", The USA Today
• Ford, Paul (2005), Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition, Harper, SanFrancisco, ISBN 0-0607-9127-6
• Wilson, Tracy (2005), "How Narnia Works", How Stuff Works
• Guthmann, Edward (2005), "'Narnia' tries to cash in on dual audience", San Francisco Chronicle
• Jacobs, Alan (2005), "The professor, the Christian, and the storyteller", The Boston Globe
• Lewis, C.S. (1994), God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 0802808689
• Kjos, Berit (2005), Narnia: Blending Truth and Myth, Kjos Ministries
• MacDonald, Dennis R. (2000), The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark, IISBN 0300080123
• MacDonald, Dennis R. (2003), Does the New Testament Imitate Homer?, IISBN 0300097700
• Chattaway, Peter T. (2005), Narnia 'baptizes' - and defends - pagan mythology, Canadian Christianity, ISBN
• Hurst, Josh (2005), Nine Minutes of Narnia, Christianity Today
• Campbell, Joseph (1991), The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology, ISBN 014019441X
• Campbell, Joseph (1972), The Hero With a Thousand Faces, ISBN 0691017840